January 21, 2009

Essay: Project Constellation

In our modern day society, our planet is getting more and more populated as we reach globalization. It was said that eventually, that our planet would get too crowded for maximum capacity and we would have to send humans to outside worlds beyond our own mother earth. This starts with sending humans back to the Moon for the first time since 1973 during the waning days of the Apollo missions. What this plan calls for is Project Constellation.

Project Constellation is a new space plan for the next two decades of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or simply NASA. The plan calls for new space travel equipment that is to replace the current, outdated space equipment that we have been using since the mid 1980s. They’re three main counterparts to complete the new, travel of space travel for the 2010s. The Orion, the Altair and the Ares.

The Orion is the new spacecraft that is going to replace the Space Shuttle, which entered service in 1982, in 2010 the Shuttle is expected to be retired from service due to its aging, in 2014 the Orion will enter service. The Orion is going to be the living sector of the new spacecraft that will carry astronauts to the Moon and potentially Mars to assemble and temporary living stations and colonies for humans to live in. They are to be used as part of extended month long missions to the Moon. It will take the shape of previous spacecrafts, especially from the 1960s, but will carry the modern, 21st century technologies on board.

The Altair will be the new, lunar lander for astronauts to land on. Like the Orion it will take a classic, outside shape but contain the modern technologies on board the craft. The Ares and two 350 foot tall rocket towers that will propel the Altair and Orion into space in record, yet safe speeds to send astronauts into low atmosphere orbit at quicker times.

What the Government needs to continue is proper funding for this project if we want to get Constellation all on schedule properly. It is expected to cost around around $100 billion dollars for equipment and training.

Often, people wonder what the point is though of traveling in space and exploring extraterrestrial worlds. Well, even though it is ambitious to be thinking about the future in about three or four billion years, the world is going to eventually end with a rapture, apocalypse, Armageddon etc. This will be because of the Sun will expand massively and burn the Earth. We will need by then to have the technology to have humans on other worlds so all of mankind and humans don’t go extinct. This isn’t for our benefit, it is for our children’s and grandchildren’s benefits. This is for the fate of mankind, and it starts with just a colony on the mooon.